Confused with RTM versions? Read this

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Last night and this morning, IRC has been plagued with questions and a lot of different answers/views were said. There was so much confusion going about. After reading for hours and hours it soon cleared up in my head, and these are the facts:

Windows XP is final, and has been released to manufacturers (RTM), It is build 2600 (not 2600.1 or 2600.3 or anything 2600.x its just build 2600)

The manufacturers have the OEM version, it has no 120/180 day evaluation timebomb included. It only has the 30 day activation. After 30 days you will be locked out. (This is called RTM OEM)

The RTM Build 2600 that appeared on WindowsBeta.mirosoft.com last night for beta testers is the final RTM build WITH the timebomb. So Beta Testers have the final copy, but they can't use it for very long. (This is called RTM Evaluation)

Neither versions (OEM and EVAL) have debug code.

The one we want leaked is the RTM OEM.

*** If you are having trouble understanding this, please reply with the parts you don't understand and I will try and make it more clearer as possible.

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There is no certian file name for the oem version. For instist last night a frined called me and said "Im downloading rtm 2600", when in fact he redownloaded the previous version of 2600 before rtm. Would you know if its something like windows_xp2600_oemrtm.whistler??.....Just a example. And Im sure when you find it youll post it...ya?

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it says: "A VLK must be used with Select CD or Worldwide Fulfillment (WWF) CD media (aka volume licensing CD media). VLKs cannot be used with retail full packaged product or OEM CD media."

Volume Licence Keys are like corporate keys, that bypass activation completely. Unfortunately, it cannot be used on an OEM or Retail copy. So, to use a VLK, you will need a corporate version of RTM for the key to work. Its unknown when we will see a VLK leak....

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Thanks Aaron for clearing up the mess! What I am really trying to get to is where can I look to see that I got the version that I thought I downloaded (inside windows). i.e. The download from eDonkey said that I was downloading 2600, however I read that there were fakes being distributed that were nothing more than RC2. Get what I'm asking?

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There seems to be a lot of confusion about build numbering in here, so I thought I would try and set the record straight about build number "2600".

As some others have tried to pointed out, there are actually two "2600" builds in circulation:

* usa_2600__x86fre.pro_whistler.iso

* usa_2600_x86eval.pro_whistler.iso

Only the second one (the 120-day Evaluation build) truly qualifies as RTM. The other "2600" was created several days prior to RTM and MS openly admitted that a few bugs were fixed right up until the night before Aug 24. So even though they share the same build number, they aren't identical and should properly have different numbers. The "2600" released about a week ago is not RTM.

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The group Sinister is currently floating 2 versions of thier Eval XP around at the moment. The fist one is usa_2600_x86eval.pro_whistler.xxx and the Second is similar but conatians the Word Autopatch or fixed in it. The Autopatch one is rumored to have a trojan in it so everyone be careful. The first one though is A Straight copy off of Beta Web. So if you goto the Sinister FTP then get the vanilla and the sinister patch and scan it with NAV before cracking.

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Someone in this post wasn't sure whether a VLK Corporate version would be leaked out? Well going to eDonkey and searching, lo and behold there's a VLK version. Downloaded it and burned it to a CD, then installed it. Ran without a hitch, and it asked for the VLK, which the man who upped the ISO was thoughtful enough to put inside the ISO. Needless to say I'm running the real deal and I didn't have to activate it either (and NO timebomb).